Savin' Me
by Alyx Monticino
Summary: Clare is the daughter of a Marine who is constantly uprooting their family, when they finally stop in Toronto, where she meets Eli Goldsworthy, and his friends Alli, Adam and Drew. This newfound friendship could be what helps to fix her...
1. Chapter 1

**EPOV**

Today was just like any other day in science. I sat alone in the back, drowning out reality with my music, when I saw an unfamiliar face walk in, an hour into class. Her hair was jet black, with purple highlights, and she wore a permanent smirk on her face. She wore all black; black leather jacket, black t- shirt, black jeans with chains hanging down from them, a studded belt, complete with combat boots. Around her neck she wore a large pair of headphones, similar to mine. Her eyes were covered with a pair of black shades. If I didn't know any better, I would say that she was my long lost sister. I stared at her as she was introduced by the teacher, and followed her with my eyes as she walked back to my side of the room, placing her headphones over her ears, and taking the seat adjacent from me. From my seat, I could hear her own music over mine; I was pretty amazed at that fact, "Hollywood Undead?" I asked, she nodded, her smirk never leaving her face, "What is your name?" "New Kid," she said, "Seriously?" "No, but I move too frequently to bother with casualties," she explained rolling her eyes, "Fun," I said sarcastically, "Not really," she sighed. Next thing I knew, the teacher was behind me, "If you two are done, we will resume class," she said, annoyed, "And you," she directed toward New, "I know it's your first day and all, but get your feet off of the desk and turn down your music, I can hear it from the front of the classroom.

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><p><strong>CPOV<strong>

I sighed with a smile, turning my music off and placing my headphones around my neck, "Could you actually hear what I was saying?" emo boy asked, _"New Kid, to the main office please, New Kid, to the main office," _ the intercom droned, I shook my head smirking, "I read lips," I said, grabbing my bag and leaving.

I walked down the hallway before realizing that I didn't know where I was. I cursed, grabbing the map out of my back pocket; which didn't help in the slightest, "Are you lost by any chance?" asked a boy wearing a gray beanie, "Yeah, I am looking for the office," I admitted, annoyed, "First day?" he guessed, "Yeah," I sighed. We began walking, "Here we are," he said after a few minutes, stopping in front of a room labeled '_Main Office'_ "Thanks…" "Adam" he said, stretching his hand out to me, "New," I smirked, "Well New, welcome to Degrassi," he said, retreating backwards, until he eventually turned a corner. I walked in, where the principal ushered me into his own office, "Your mother called for you, she wants you to stay at a friend's house for a while. Her and your dad will be out of town for the next few days," he said, "Is that all?" I asked, as the bell rang, signaling the end of fourth period. He let me go, after giving me directions to my final class, Advanced Literature with Ms. Dawes. As soon as I walked in, I saw Adam, and the kid from my science class, "Adam, emo boy, it is great to see some familiar faces," I greeted, "Emo boy?" he quirked an eyebrow, "You never did tell me your name," I stated, "Its Eli, how was the office?" Eli asked, "Fine, once I found it," Adam laughed, "What did Simpson want?" he asked, "My parents took it upon themselves to leave an hour after moving to a new city, they expect me to stay with a friend, which I haven't met very many of while being here. I really have nowhere to go," I stated, "You can hang with us," Eli offered, "Really?" I asked, "Yeah, we are staying at a friend's house tonight, but she will be totally cool with it," Adam claimed, "Alright cool," I said, "Adam, Eli, New, since you three seem to be the best of friends, you three will be writing partners for the year," Ms. Dawes said, "Okay, Ms. D," she smiled, "I expect great things from you three," she said before going back to her lesson. Once I realized that I had already learned this stuff, I zoned out, opting to doodle in one of my notebooks instead.

I didn't realize that class had ended until my notebook was pulled out from under me, "Who is Clare?" Eli asked, "Clare is my best friend, I had to leave her in New York when I moved, and I miss her a lot," I lied smoothly, "Well, school's over," he said, I looked around to see that the three of us were the only ones left in the room, "So it is," I laughed, "C'mon, you need to meet the others," Adam said. This should be fun.

* * *

><p><strong>EPOV<strong>

New was pretty cool, but I had a feeling that she was hiding something, and there was something about her that made me want to figure it out. We met up with the other three at our usual spot, "Hey, you're that new girl," Alli said, "Hi, I'm New," she introduced herself, "Obviously," Alli stated with an eye roll, "No, my name is New," she clarified, "Wow, your parents must hate you," Alli laughed, "Alli!" Julia gasped, New surprised us all by laughing, "That might just be true, but it's my name by choice. I move too often to worry about stuff like that," "Oh," was all Alli said, "Hey, her parents are out of town tonight, and she needs a place to stay, can she crash with us at your house?" "Well sure, I can already tell that we will be the best of friends!" Alli squealed, pulling New into a hug. She tensed up, causing Alli to let go, "I'm not much of an affectionate person," she said awkwardly, Alli waved it off dismissively, "It's all good," Alli assured her, "Meet at my house at four," she directed, dragging Drew with her as she left, Adam followed with a sigh, "I'm Julia, Eli's girlfriend," Julia said, stretching out her hand, "New," she replied, shaking Julia's hand, "Oh babe, I have to go home for a bit, I'll just get my dad to take me to Alli's," Julia said, kissing my cheek and skipping off. I looked around to see that New had walked off, so I went out to Morty.

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><p><strong>So I know that I have been starting a lot of stories lately... But this one isn't exactly out of the blue... I have been writing it for a while, but have finally gotten around to publishing it... Honestly I don't think I will keep the last two stories that I have written, because they just aren't as good as I wanted them to be... But we shall see...<strong>

**Alyxx Monticino**


	2. Chapter 2

CPOV  
>"I need a car, I need a car, I need a car..." I chanted as a mantra in my head as I walked home, I had my music up so loud that I was taken completely by surprised when I felt a hand on my arm. I jumped, turning quickly, only to face Eli, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he said as I removed my headphones, "It's fine, I was just zoned out," I explained, "Well I was just wondering if you wanted a ride, it's pretty cold out here," he said, I smiled, "That would be cool," I said, "And I can take you to Alli's afterwards," he continued, "If you would like," "I'd like that," I said. We climbed into his car, and headed in the direction of my house.<br>"So, you're the family that moved in down the street," he commented upon pulling up to the curb in front of my house, "I guess so," I stated. I walked into my room, just in time to grab my phone as it rang. I had left it at home on the charger when I arrived here, seeing as the long plane ride drained my battery, "Hello," "Clare dear, you finally answered your phone," my mother exclaimed, "I told you before I left that I was leaving it on the charger," I sighed, taking my phone from the charger to grab a bag so I could start packing to go to Alli's, "Did you find someone to stay with?" she asked, apparently ignoring what I had just said, I grabbed some clothes from the nearest box "Yeah I did. But I have to go," I said zipping up my bag and heading out the door. She began rambling on about something, so I just hung up. I sighed, looking up, "Is it bad that I just realized that you drive a hearse?" I asked, climbing into the car, he smirked, "Maybe a little," he commented, shifting into drive and heading toward Alli's house.

EPOV  
>New was something different, that was for sure. I found that she was really easy to get along with. Once we got to Alli's house, Alli insisted on getting to know her better. She asked her how old she was, where she was born, if she had any siblings, what her parents did for a living, and about her love life, "Well, I haven't really had a love life," New admitted, "So, you're a virgin?" Alli guessed. New went pale, "Alli, stop," I said, "What I was just asking," she replied, defensively, "What is your sister like?" Adam asked, effectively changing the subject, "She's a few years older than I am, she has auburn hair and brown eyes. When she was eighteen, she moved to Kenya, and she's pretty much been there ever since," she said, grateful of the distraction. Everything was quiet for a few moments, so Drew turned on the T.V.<p>

CPOV  
>I wanted a cigarette, like really badly right now; but it wasn't like I could really just slip out right now. Alli was in her kitchen ordering pizza and Julia came over to me as the boys tuned out to watch a football game, "You okay?" she asked, "Sure," I responded, "I just don't really feel comfortable talking about... That," "I understand,: she said, "So, what's your life like?" I asked, trying to escape the awkward silence that was between us, "I am seventeen as well, I was born in Montreal and I live with my dad. He's a mechanic. I am an only child and I've never really been with anyone besides Eli," she said, I didn't really believe her, but I wasn't about to say anything.<br>The pizza was alright, but I wasn't really hungry, so I just threw it away. Someone eventually put in a scary movie because, apparently, it was some sort of tradition with them, but it didn't really hold my interest. When I thought everyone was asleep, I went for a walk down the street. I eventually stopped at a bench, where I lit a cigarette and fell into the silence of the night.  
>EPOV<br>I was laying down, staring at the ceiling when I heard the front door shut. New's spot was empty, so I followed her to make sure she was alright. She had stopped at a bench, and lit a cigarette. I wanted to make my presence known, so I didn't appear to be some creep that was following her. Once I caught up to her, I spoke up, "I never would have guessed that you were a smoker," I said, my voice breaking the serenity of the night,"I started way too early in my life to relieve stress, and I haven't been able to bring myself to try and quit," she said, "So, how has your first day in toronto been?" I asked, "Well, I had just started getting used to NYC, and now I am here. There is really not much more to say," she sighed, "Did you really like it there?" I asked, "Not necessarily, but my dad's job makes it hard to really get used to living anywhere, and of course his job is far more important than something trivial, like my happiness," she said, taking a drag from her cigarette, "It must be hard," "You have no idea, I don't even blame my sister for abandoning me, I would have gotten the hell out of this mess as soon as I could have too," she sighed, "What's so bad about your family?" I asked, "They ignore me, I always take a backseat to my father's precious job, we haven't spoken in years, I only talk to my mom anymore," she explained, "I'm sure that's not true," I tried to console her, "It really is, they left today for base, they will probably won't be back for a couple months to pack me up and move me to another place," she said, laughing without humor.

CPOV  
>I was so sick of talking about myself, so as I lit another cigarette, I asked, "So, what are you all about?" I asked, "Me?" he asked, I nodded, "What do you want to know?" he smirked, "Anything you're willing to share," I responded, "I live with both of my parents, my mom's a psych; dad's a disk jockey, I'm an only child, and at one point in my life, I thought Julia was the love of my life," he sighed, "What do you mean?" I asked, "She's been cheating on me for the past... probably three or four months," he said, "I know that I should break up with her, but part of me still doesn't want to believe that she's done anything wrong," he put his face in his hands. We sat in silence, being that I wasn't exactly sure what to say. Finally, I put a hand on his leg, removing it quickly as he turned to face me, "You really shouldn't beat yourself up about it. No one wants to let go of a good thing," I said, picking at cuff of my sleeve. When I looked up, I noticed that he was staring at me; my lips particularly. He began to lean in, and some unknown force drew me into him, and we kissed. Every part of my being was screaming at me to pull away from him; but I didn't. It wasn't until I heard an actual scream that we pulled apart, "What the hell are you doing kissing my boyfriend?" Julia demanded. We just stared at her and I took a drag from my cigarette.<p>

EPOV  
>"Eli, how could you do this to me?" she continued, "That's a bit hypocritical, don't you think?" I asked, "What do you mean, I have-" "Been cheating on me for the past three months," I finished, "How-" "Do you remember that day we fought back in August, well, I felt really bad for it. I went to your house to work things out, and I found you and Fitz in a rather compromising position," I explained, "We're over," The moon shone on her tears as they cascaded down her face. She turned to run across the street, "Look out!" New called out, as we witnessed Julia being run into by a passing car. She rolled up onto the hood of the car, and then fell off as the car screeched to a stop. The women came rushing out to apologize. I didn't hear it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw New on the phone; I didn't hear her either. I saw the red, flashing lights of the ambulance and I zoned out.<p>

CPOV  
>"Eli, Eli!" I said, waving a hand in his face, causing him to snap out of his stupor, "Give me your keys," I repeated myself, "You can go in the ambulance with Julia and I will go get the others from Alli's and we will meet you at the hospital," he numbly gave me his keys and we parted ways.<p>

1 hour later...

EPOV  
>I felt better once I realized that she was fine. I walked out to the hallway, where the others sat, "Can you please go talk to New. This shook her up pretty badly," Alli Pleaded. I walked out of the hospital and found New sitting against a pillar, smoking. "You alright?" I asked, kneeling down to her level, "I feel bad," she said, "Like it's my fault she got hit by a car," I rolled my eyes, "She's fine," I said, "Just a few minor cuts and bruises," I looked down at her hands as something shiny caught my eyes. She had a knife, and was using it to pick at a burn on her arm, "What are you doing?" I asked, "When Julia got hit, I dropped my cigarette on my arm," she said, focused solely on her knife. I took it away from her.<p>

CPOV  
>"Give me my knife back," I said, "Are you going to stop?" he asked, I shook my head, "Then no," he said, I sighed and we sat there in silence. My burn-turned-cut began to bleed out, "Can you do me a favor?" he asked out of the blue, "Depends," I stated, "Will you talk to Alli... about this. She can understand it better than I can," he said, "And maybe help you get past it," I gave him a skeptical look, "Just consider it... Please?" he asked, then turned to go back inside.<p>

EPOV  
>After about another half an hour, we went back to Alli's house. I had talked to Alli after New, so it was no surprise when she pulled her away.<p>

Alli POV  
>Eli had asked me to talk to New; he really didn't say what it was about, but he said that there was something I might be able to help her with. We went up to my room for some privacy, "I know you don't feel really comfortable here, but if you ever need someone to talk to, you can talk to me," I said, she scoffed, "I know you may think that I could not possibly relate to anything you may be going through, but three years ago, I dated this senior; his name was Johnny Dimarco. He filled my head full of all these lies of how he was a virgin when; at the time, I had been one too. I thought he was the perfect person to give everything to; so I did. In return, I got an STD," her eyes widened, "Nothing serious," I reassured her, "But it ruined my life and I dealt with it pretty badly during the later part of my freshman year, but then my sophomore year, I met Drew and it's like my freshman year never happened," I said with a small smile, "So, where does Eli and Julia come into the story?" she asked, "Eli has been my friend since forever," I said, "Neither of us would socialize with anyone in kindergarten, then one day, there was these kids picking on me, so I ran off to the park. He followed me there, and talked to me for the first time, about nothing really in particular, just trying to get my mind off of the other kids, and we've been best friends ever since," I said, "And Julia?" she prompted, "Julia and I never really saw eye to eye," I began, "But in seventh grade, her and Eli began to date, to we tried to put our differences aside for him. We were actually just starting to get along, but then I found out that she was cheating on Eli, so I told him, but he already knew, and I really can't believe that he waited so long to end things with her," I sighed, "Oh," she said after a moment. It was quiet for a little while, until I saw blood seeping from her sleeve onto her hand, "Um, your hand is bleeding," I said, slightly unnerved. She looked at her and although seeming completely unphased by it, she asked me to help her clean it up.<p>

CPOV  
>My whole forearm began to burn, so once she led me into her bathroom, and left to find a first aid kit, I carefully removed my jacket. Blood was covering most of my arm, so I walked to the bathtub to rinse my arm off, Truth be told, blood makes me a little nauseous, so my head was swimming by the time Alli returned with the first aid kit. She gasped when she saw the small gash on my arm, "It's not as bad as it looks," I said feebly. She was silent as she tended to my wound. By the time she was finished the clock read seven fifteen, and the guys were asleep on the living room floor. We weren't tired, so we sat in the kitchen, eating whatever we found in her cupboard. Her landline rang and then moments later, there was a knock at the door. Alli, who was still on the phone, asked me to answer to the door. I opened the door to an older woman, seemly in her mid forties, with a stern look on her face, "Oh, do I have the wrong house. I am looking for the Bhandari residence," she said, "Uh, this is it, I am one of Alli's friends,my name is New." I said, "Audra Torres, I've heard of you, you're Sergeant Edwards' daughter," she said, "I'm just looking for my sons," I let her in and she woke the boys, and took Adam and Drew with her.<p>

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><p><strong>Hey everyone, it's only been for-fucking-ever since the last time I wrote... So here you go... Enjoy<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

EPOV  
>By noon, we were all extremely bored. We finally decided to go to Eli's to play Xbox. We were really getting into the game when I accidently bumped into New. Next thing I knew, she was standing a few feet from the couch with her eyes closed, and her hands clenched into fists, her whole body shaking, "Are you alright?" we asked, she nodded slightly, "What's wrong?" Alli asked, "Nothing," she said, in barely a whisper, neither of us heard, "What?" "I was raped!" she yelled with tears in her eyes, "Oh shit," I thought. It was a little bit before either Alli or I thought of something to say, "When?" Alli finally asked, "Three years ago," she said, "I can't look at a person, can't let anyone touch me without thinking that it might happen again," "Have you talked to somebody about it?" I asked, she scoffed, "No, people think I'm crazy enough, it's just how it is, I am Sergeant Edwards' crazy, younger daughter," she said, "You are not crazy, you are just scared. No one would blame you, but it isn't healthy to keep all of these emotions bottled up, especially with how much you move around. You really should talk to someone," Alli said, "My mom is a psychiatrist, she could help you," I offered, she was silent, "We could go with you if it would help," Alli spoke up.<p>

CPOV  
>I was afraid, so much that I was still shaking, but I knew that this could be good for me. I nodded, sealing away my fate as Eli left the room to call his mother. I sat on the couch when I got a text.<p>

CLARE  
>HEY LITTLE MIZZ TORONTO<br>DARCY

DARCY  
>ISNT THAT A BEAUTY PAGENT?<br>CLARE

CLARE  
>IDK. YOURE THE ONE WHO LIVES THERE. ANYWAYS HOW R U DOIN THERE? MAKE ANY FRIENDS? FIND ANY HAWT GUYS? ND DID NE THING ELSE HAPPEN?<br>DARCY

DARCY  
>FINE. YES. YES. AND I SORTA GOT SOMEONE HIT BY A CAR.<br>CLARE

CLARE  
>WHAT?<br>DARCY

DARCY  
>NOT REALLY THO. SHE WAS A CHICK THAT WAS DATING THE GUY I JUST MET AS WELL AS SOMEONE ELSE. ME N THE GUY KISSED ND SHE SAW. HE BROKE UP WITH HER ND SHE RAN OFF IN FRONT OF A CAR.<br>CLARE

CLARE  
>OIC... WAS SHE SLUTTY<br>DARCY

DARCY  
>NOT AS MUCH AS YOUD THINK<br>CLARE

CLARE  
>WELL IS SHE ALRIGHT?<br>DARCY

DARCY  
>SHES FINE<br>CLARE

I set my phone down as Eli came back, "She's free for the next few hours," he said, "Oh, I can't wait," I sighed.  
>Alli, Eli, and I piled into his hearse and drove to his mom's work. We walked in to see a blonde haired women with a warm smile on her face. She greeted Eli, then Alli, turning to me afterwards, "You must be New," she said, with the same warm smile, "Clare," I corrected her, "Clare?" she repeated, "Clare?" the other two asked, "Clare," I said again, "Well Clare, if you would like to take a seat, we can get started," she said.<p>

EPOV  
>I asked my mom to go easy on her, and she did, "So, where were you born?" she asked, "California," "When did you really begin moving around so much?" "When I was five," "Eli said yu have a sister, how much older is she than you and how often do you two speak?" "She is about three years older than me and we text quite a bit, but I haven't seen her in like two years, since she left for Kenya," "Now, did you two hang out much, or did you have any other companions?" "We didn't really hang out too much, and I had a friend that I hung out with fairly consistently for about a year. Her name was Jane. She was there when I was raped," she said.<p>

CPOV  
>I was tired of beating around the bush, so I just led her in the direction I was ready to go in, "Can you elaborate?" she asked, "Jane and I did pretty much whatever we wanted, because my parents were never really around long enough to care. So, one night we were invited to a party, so we went. It didn't bother us that there were drugs and alcohol at the party, because we weren't into that kind of stuff. At this particular party, I guess I caught this guy's attention, because he started talking to me. Jane walked off with one of her friends. Next thing I knew, he started bringing me drink after drink and I was starting to get a little tipsy, so I told the guy that I wanted to find Jane. He had told me that he saw her go upstairs and I was drunk, so I didn't think anything of it. He led me to an empty room which was when my senses kicked in and I realized that something bad was going to happen, so I tried to walk away, but he threw me in and locked the door. I tried to scream, but he would hit me every time I did," I was shaking as the memories flooded back to me, "Can we stop for now?" I asked as my voice broke, she nodded.<p>

Next Day...

Alli and Eli convinced me to come see Cece for a second day, but I was nervous to talk again, "Hello again, dear," she said, sweetly, "Hi," I said quietly, "I know that you're nervous, but right now we won't talk about that. Instead, I want to know about your parents," she said, "My parents," I sighed, "My parents don't get me, after we move to a new place, I don't see them until they are ready to move again," I said, "What does your mother do?" "She travels with my dad," "How often do you speak with them?" "I haven't spoken to my father in ten years," I said, "And why is that?" she asked in a calming tone, "Before he went into the Marines, my dad had a dead end job which left him coming home really frustrated, so whenever my mom and sister were gone, my dad would take his anger out on me. When he went into the Marines, after boot camp, he asked for my forgiveness. I told him that it was impossible for me to forgive him, especially so soon, but I asked him never to talk to me again," I said:

Flashback...  
>Babygirl... I need to apologize to you for all of the bad things I did. I should have never had laid a hand on you, can you find it in your heart to forgive me?" he asked me, "No, I don't think I can," I said softly, "You've been beating me for the past two years, and now I am just supposed to believe that everything has changed after you've been away for a few months?" "I have Clarebear, I really have, but I understand, if you could just not tell your mother." he said, "I won't tell mom," I said, "Thank you-" he began, "If," I stopped him, "If you would just leave me alone. Don't talk to me. Don't touch me. Ever again.<p>

I came back to the present after someone snapped their fingers in front of my face, I blinked, "Sorry," I said, "I think we are done for today. You've been doing a great job dear, and you deserve a break," Cece said. I got up and walked outside to get some air.


End file.
